


My decision

by Dylan_Ols02



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Cassarian Month 2020 (Disney), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26559493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dylan_Ols02/pseuds/Dylan_Ols02
Summary: When Cassandra returns to Corona with the intention of staying there permanently, old doubts arise about her feelings for a certain person.Will she be able to put them aside? Or will they be stronger than she could have imagined?
Relationships: Cassandra/Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Cassandra/Varian (Disney: Tangled), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Kudos: 9





	My decision

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't stop thinking about this since the show ended. I always liked this ship a lot, and although in the series it didn't happen, I always felt like it might happen in the future, so I decided to create this.  
> I know very well that this ship is not very dear by many fans, so I hope that if you don't accept it, you just don't read my one shot instead of criticizing it and making comments that might offend those who if we like this relationship.  
> Having said that, I just have to say that I hope you enjoy it and that I am very sorry for how mistranslated the fic is (is not originally written in English).

Cassandra came down from Fidella's chair, after she'd been riding for more than three days, she had finally reached her destination.

Corona 

Finally, after six years traveling all the way through the seven kingdoms, she had come home once again. Although this would be the last time she'd be back. Her travels had ended, long ago she realized her place was in Corona next to Rapunzel and the rest of her friends. Maybe it was just that why in recent years she'd been taking advantage of all the opportunities she was presented to spend a few days in her old home.

As she approached the castle, Cassandra remembered the last letter she had sent to Rapunzel, informing her of her plans to return to Corona permanently. Of course, the news excited her friend, who didn't take long to send a letter of reply saying that she was already preparing everything for her return and telling her all the stories she had to tell her.

Before even arriving at the palace gates, Cassandra has already met several old friends like Xavier the blacksmith, Faith (a maid of the castle he knew well) among others.

As soon as she got to the big Corona square, Cassandra realized that Rapunzel was waiting for her there next to Eugene, who wore his uniform characteristic as captain of the royal guard.

Rapunzel didn't hold back and as soon as she saw her friend, she ran to hug her without thinking twice.

"Oh Cass, I can't believe you're here again, we've missed you, all of us, makes us very happy to know you're staying here. Your old room is just like you left it and we booked a very special place in the stables for Fidella, right next to Maximus."

"Thank you very much, Raps, I really appreciate it, but you're drowning me with this hug."

Rapunzel realized that she was still holding her friend tightly so among many laughs she broke away from her slowly.

"I'm glad to see you're still being the Captain Fitherbert."

"Yeah, it's great to have you back Cassandra."

He said with a sarcastic tone just before his wife beat him to a punishment mode

After that welcome, the three of them entered the castle and Rapunzel escorted Cassandra to her old room, where she left all her stuff and took advantage of her bath.

"Still working the hot water shower, right? I would not like to repeat the experience I lived in other kingdoms where they didn't have this water heating system."

"Of course it still works, it's all thanks to our royal engineer."

Cassandra smiled at the memories that came to her mind.

"Speaking of this, how are Varian and the others?"

"They're great, Eugene and I have constantly tried to offer to Lance a job at the castle, but he prefers to keep working at Snuggly Duckling. And as for Varian, he's better than ever, everyone was very happy when they knew you were coming back to stay."

"It's not like I've been here for so long since I was here for a visit, how long has it been since I've been here? 8 months?"

"Actually it was almost a year ago"

Cassandra was surprised at that. That long had it been? She really said that thinking it had been a lot longer, but she was still surprised. Although that should no longer matter, not now that she would not leave again.

"Anyway, I'll leave you alone so you can get a shower and get some rest if you want, then I'll see you later."

That said, Rapunzel came out of the room and Cassandra sat in bed, thinking about a lot of things. She was happy to come back but really, what was she gonna do now? Would she be a lady in waiting again? Could she finally fulfill her dream and join the royal guard? Did she still feel the same way about him?

* * *

Two hours after her arrival, Cassandra had taken a shower and changed her clothes. Despite Rapunzel's insistence, she wasn't so tired to sleep for a while, she really preferred to go out and meet old friends.

She didn't have to do much of an effort, since the moment she got to the castle hall near her room, she met Eugene talking to Lance.

As soon as Lance saw her, he went straight to hug her, happy to see her again. Cassandra, to Eugene's surprise, she gave him a hug back, too glad to see him again.

"It's good to be back, I'm glad to see you and the girls are doing well."

"We're doing better than good, we're a very happy, united family."

"It's good to hear that"

"I'd love to chat with you more, Cassandra, but I have to go pick up the girls, they've been going to paint lessons the last few days and I'd rather not come home alone at night."

"Don't worry about it, Strongbow, now I'm not leaving, we'll have plenty of time to chat another day."

After the conversation, Lance left the room and Cassandra and Eugene left alone. Although there was really no uncomfortable silence, since Eugene started to talk.

"Well, Cassandra, I'm gonna cut to the chase, now that you're gonna stay here permanently you're gonna need a job to earn a living, even if you live in the castle, I know you very well and I know you're not comfortable if you feel like you're not doing anything useful, so I have a big offer for you."

Eugene's words succeeded in waking Cassandra's curiosity.

"I'm all ears Fitherbert."

"If you're willing and still interested in this job, I'd like to offer you a post as second in command of the royal guard. You'll be my right hand and you'll also be working with the new recruits weekly."

Cassandra couldn't believe what she was hearing, it was the best offer they had made to her, it was just what she'd always wanted to do with her life.

"Are you serious, Eugene?"

"I mean it very seriously, in the last few months I've been looking for an ideal guard for the job but when Blondie told me you were going to live here again, I knew there was no one more qualified for the job than you. Well, what do you say, do you agree?"

"Of course I do."

* * *

That night, Cassandra didn't sleep much, she had gone straight to tell Rapunzel's great news, who was now much busier than usual, since it had been less than a year since she had become the queen of Corona.

King Frederick and Queen Arianna had decided to resign the post a year ago, therefore Rapunzel and Eugene had become the kings of the kingdom. Both were still getting used to it, especially Eugene who had to combine his duties as King Consort and his duties as captain of the Royal Guard (that was one of the reasons he had decided to look for someone to become his second-in-command).

Despite all her new obligations, Rapunzel found a moment in her day to briefly celebrate with Cassandra her new job with the royal guard.

Just when Cass was about to fall asleep, she saw a little stone beat her window. It was a sign she knew very well, the same signal that both had been using for four years, when it had all started.

Cassandra quickly approached the window and opened it, going out into the palace yard and meeting those huge blue eyes that she'd missed so much.

Cassandra was upset that she didn't get that visit earlier, but she was so happy to meet him again that she didn't care anymore. With great illusion and happiness, she kissed her couple's lips, who kissed her back, both melting into a beautiful embrace that lasted several moments, until they split up to look better at each other.

"I can't believe you waited all day to come and see me."

"I wish I'd come sooner Cassie, I really couldn't. At least we can see each other as we've been doing the last few years."

Cassandra came into her room to put her shoes on and grab a fine coat so she could walk along Varian, just as they'd been doing the last few years, meeting at night in the castle yard. Although their relationship was no secret to their friends, they had both been keeping an informal relationship, due to the short time Cassandra spent in Corona. Besides, they were both very clear that Cass' father would never accept that Varian and she had a love relationship, even though he no longer lived in the kingdom.

Now that she had permanently returned to Corona, neither of they knew how to proceed. Should they put aside the night exits and start having a formal relationship? They should forget each other and ignore their feelings if they had them?

The two of them had a lot of doubt in mind, but they both booked them, preferred to enjoy the best they could at that time, walking in the dark through the castle's yards.

* * *

Varian didn't remember very well that he had spent the night before.

At that time, he only knew that for some reason he was lying in a huge bed under a silk blanket next to the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life sleeping next to him, dressed only with underwear and his white shirt.

While he moved slowly, trying not to wake Cassandra started remembering what had happened. They'd both been walking a lot of the night, until she'd offered him to enter her room so he wouldn't be cold. One thing led to another and...

They'd ended up sleeping together.

In the four years they'd been having an informal relationship, they'd never come to that. The most "daring" act they had carried out in all that time was a day when he had suggested to hef for a walk around the city and both walked a lot of the afternoon holding hands.

Varian couldn't lie, he had long wished to get to that point in his relationship with Cass, but now that he had arrived, he felt a little guilty about not remembering it the way he would like.

Varian went back to bed and plugged himself with one of the blankets after he realized he was only dressed in his underwear. Sure, Cassandra was wearing his shirt. At that point, she started waking up, seemed like she did remember what had happened the night before, since just opening her eyes turned on the blankets until she posed her eyes with Varian's and with a big smile on her face, she said.

"Good morning, nerd."

Varian couldn't help smiling. Nerd was the nickname she had given her to himself when they started their relationship, after she realized that he always called her "Cassie" or "Milady" but she never spoke to him with a loving nickname.

"Good morning, Cassie."

Both shared a little conversation about how nice it was to wake up that morning having company, just when they heard someone knocking on the door.

"Cassandra? I'm Rapunzel, I was wondering if you'd like to come over for breakfast with my mother and me?"

Cass and Varian got up quickly out of bed, she took off his shirt as fast as she could and handed it over to her couple, he put all her clothes on at an incredibly fast pace while she was struggling to find the words to answer her friend while she was wearing an old dress that was on a chair.

"Yes Raps, I'll be right out, just... Give me a few minutes to get dressed and I'll see you in the living room."

"Oh, okay, I'll see you there."

Both, already dressed, heard the footsteps of a barefoot person walking away from the door, as soon as they stopped hearing them, they sighed relieved, although they couldn't repress a little laugh.

Varian decided to go out the window of the room, which was giving to the yard, so it would stop anyone seeing him and ask him what he was doing in that castle area. He could always use the excuse that he'd gone to Cassandra's room to fix her shower, but since he didn't carry any toolbox he knew that would be hard to believe.

"Hey nerd."

Cassandra came up to the room window and got very close to Varian.

"It's been a great night. I hope we can repeat it soon."

That said, Cass came closer to her couple and kissed him, although it was a short kiss, Varian settled and gave her his gesture back to hugging her.

* * *

It wasn't the first time Rapunzel invited Cassandra to lunch with her mother, but still, she always got so tense. After all, she was eating with the former queen of a kingdom who had tried to destroy six years ago. Anyway, Arianna always tried to show her how she didn't hold any grudges for what had happened, choosing nice words to address her.

"What great stories of your trips through the seven kingdoms can you tell us Cassandra?"

"Oh, I have many stories to tell, I've met great people and I've seen amazing things."

By insistence of Rapunzel, Cassandra started telling some of her experiences. She was talking for a long time and by the time they wanted to realize it was almost an hour. Arianna said goodbye to the girls and headed out of the castle to meet her husband, whom she would leave for a few days to enjoy their retirement.

Rapunzel didn't have to go back to her royal obligations until a while, so she proposed Cassandra for a walk in the gardens, which Cass agreed.

Walking through that castle area brought Cassandra a feeling of deja vu, it had only been a few hours since she had been there with Varian, for some reason she couldn't get any of those moments out of her head.

"Cass, are you listening to me?"

Rapunzel's words took Cassandra out of his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry, Raps, I was thinking about my things, what were you saying?"

"I said, what exactly is between you and Varian?"

For a few moments, Cassandra regretted having agreed to speak to Rapunzel, so she tried to avoid the subject.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, you've been having an informal relationship for four years because you didn't want to stay in Croona, now you're coming home permanently and on your first night back, you both sleep together."

Cassandra was surprised at that situation, how could she know that?

"Who told you we spent the night together?"

"Nobody told me, but you can't hide anything from me. Though you haven't answered me, now you two have a formal relationship? Why don't you make it public then?"

The two friends sat in a stone bank right in front of a big wall before Cassandra answered.

"It's not that... Well, maybe I do? I don't know, I mean, I love him and I'd love to spend more time with him, but... I guess it has to do with what we both did in the past. Maybe this is our punishment, pretending we're friends, but..."

"Cass, don't think that, you..."

Cassandra took her hands to her face and kept herself in the same position for a while. During that time he doubted about what to do, she must or should not tell Rapunzel the truth of her feelings towards Varian? She finally made her decision, raised her head and looked at her friend.

"Raps, there's something you need to know, but you can't tell anyone, not even Eugene, okay?"

"I promise you."

"Well here I go. Remember that little dagger I always wore with me before? The dagger that almost didn't cut the butter and was completely usefull?"

"Yes, I remember, it was the first weapon you used to train with the royal guard when you were little, you always said you didn't want to get rid of it because it brought you good memories of your childhood."

"Exactly, well, that dagger was one of the most important objects of my life and it was one of the few things I took when I left Corona the first time. The point is, about two years ago, while I was on a trip through the Kingdom of Bayangor, I visited a professional blacksmith and gave him the dagger, asking him to melt it."

"Wait, you melted the dagger? Why did you do that? It was your favorite object, you never left home without your dagger even if it was no use anymore."

"No Raps, you didn't let me finish. As I said, I asked the blacksmith to melt the dagger and use it to do this."

Cassandra pulled out of her dress pocket a tiny object of what appeared to be steel. The gears turned on Rapunzel's head after realizing what that little object really was.

"Cass, this is a wedding ring... For a man"

"Yes, it is."

Rapunzel couldn't help but feel a great happiness at that time.

"That means you're thinking of..."

"No Rapunzel, don't rush. That's just what I wanted to talk to you about."

Her friend was a little disappointed, yet she heard what Cass wanted to tell her.

"You see, a couple of years ago, after leaving Corona, I couldn't take certain thoughts out of my head. I couldn't stop thinking about how happy I'd been whenever I can share a few minutes with Varian. Although I still do not understand where those feelings came from, I kept thinking that I could no longer ignore them for much longer. Then I went over my head the thought of how happy it would be to be to share the rest of my life with him. That thought went through as an arrow, but the more I tried to put it aside, the more I often thought. That's why I decided to make the ring."

Rapunzel couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't help feeling a lot of happiness at that time. She was happy that her best friend finally found love.

"That means you're trying to ask Varian to..."

"That's the problem, Raps, I don't know. I don't know if ask him that would be best, after all, we've only had an informal relationship for a few years. What if he doesn't feel the same way about me? What if I ruin everything with that request? That's too much doubt, that's why I told you. I want you to keep the ring until I've decided what to do."

"Cass, you have my promise that I'm not gonna tell anyone anything, but if you want my advice on this subject: if you really love him, don't think too much, just do it."

Cassandra smiled at her friend, thanking her for the advice.

"Thank you, Raps, but I'd rather clarify my ideas before I make a decision."

After that, Rapunzel kept the ring in his purse and both continued to talk about different issues, for not to mention the conversation they had just had.

* * *

Cassandra needed to clear herself after she'd been talking to Rapunzel

For his luck, that day she had agreed to meet Eugene so that he could explain her new job as second in command of the royal guard. Eugene would give her the new uniform and she could start working the next day.

Cass was very excited, although she was very sorry that her father wasn't there with her, to enjoy that moment.

Former Captain Simon had accompanied his daughter at the beginning of her travel, although after a couple of years traveling constantly, he had decided to settle in the kingdom of Koto, where he had gotten a good position on the royal guard there. Although Cassandra was disheartened to know that she would have to continue her travel alone, she was also happy to see how her father had found a place to be happy again.

"I know you'll be good at the job of training new recruits, after all your father was doing it for almost his whole life."

"I have experience training people, sometimes helped my father"

"That's why I trust you on this. Anyway, you'll start tomorrow, for now, you can go out and enjoy your return."

Cass knew exactly what the next place he wanted to visit.

* * *

Varian had always been a disaster.

Not only Cassandra, everyone who knew the alchemist knew it well. His lab was almost always dirty or messy, on many occasions Rapunzel had to be careful when she walked in there to avoid stepping on some broken glass that might be on the floor.

"There seem to be things that don't change"

Varian turned suddenly, surprised to see Cass at his lab door.

"Cassie, I wasn't expecting you here now."

"I thought if you can surprise me the other day showing up in my room at night, I can surprise you today by showing up at your lab in the afternoon."

Varian left the book he had been reading on the table and stood up slowly towards his visit.

"It's an interesting way of thinking. Though I guess you didn't come here just to scare me off, am I wrong?"

"No, you're not wrong. I thought you could show me the Corona areas that have changed the most since I left."

Varian stood right in front of her and answered her.

"You sure you want me to guide you?"

"I'm sure."

"In that case I see no problem, but I would rather charge the price of my services in advance."

Understanding Varian's words, Cassandra put her hands around his neck and kissed his lips while hugging with much more passion than the first kiss they had shared days ago.

A little scream from someone scolding someone else took the couple out of their intimate moment, making both of them go away from a jump.

Varian grabbed his wool jacket on the rack by the door and both left the lab heading for the streets of Corona. 

* * *

Cassandra and Varian walked through the snowy streets of Old Corona. Cass remembered that the kingdom was beautiful when winter came, but Old Corona was especially beautiful at that time of year.

Varian had shown her his home, where he was still living occasionally with his father.

"How's your father?"

"He's great, although for a few years he's been taking advantage of many opportunities to go away to help in the reconstruction of the Dark Kingdom and spend some time with his siblings. I'm starting to believe that as soon as I'm independent, he'll definitely leave here."

Varian couldn't help but let out a little laugh while he said the last sentence, which surprised Cassandra.

"And you're not sorry for him to leave you alone?"

"If going there makes him happy, for my great, I'm older and I don't need him taking care of me, in fact, I've been thinking about going to live alone for a long time."

"And do you know where you'll live?"

"I found a beautiful house for sale not long ago, it's surrounded by 4 hectares of forest and it's only an hour from Old Corona, and it's at a good price."

"And if you want to leave your father's house, why don't you go there?"

"I'm not sure, I guess it's for many reasons, although especially because I don't know what I'd do living alone in a huge house."

Cassandra started to get interested in the matter, so Varian decided to show her the house that he was talking about.

It was as pretty as Varian described its. It wasn't a normal house, but rather a huge wooden mansion. The house had three floors and had two huge stables. All the rooms were very well lit and they had a lot of space. Despite how spectacular it was, most people didn't want to buy the house because it took almost an hour to get to Corona or Old Corona from there. Still, Cassandra was fascinated by the beauty of that place.

* * *

Cassandra didn't know what to think anymore.

Her feelings had her more confused than ever. If she had many doubts before about what she wanted to do with her informal relationship, she definitely had no sense now.

Part of her insisted that there was no longer a need to hide her feelings for Varian, her father could not control that kind of decision in her life.

But another part of her kept thinking that maybe Varian was happy with the kind of life that they had been leading those last days (seeing themself alone on occasions and discreetly) and maybe he wasn't prepared to have a formal relationship, even though she had moved back to Corona permanently.

Cassandra was trying to do anything to keep busy, hoping that she could forget for at least a few hours of all those thoughts.

One day, when she had finished training some aspiring members of the royal guard, a young maid approached her while she was in the kitchen eating something.

"Lady Cassandra, I'm so sorry to bother you, but I'd like to ask you a question."

"Don't worry, Julie, tell me, what do you need?"

"I don't know exactly how to say this. You are a close friend of the king and queen, right?"

"Um, I guess so, what's the question?"

"Oh, you haven't heard the rumors?"

Cassandra wasn't understanding a word of that conversation.

"I'm sorry, Julie, but I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well, I guess you'll end up finding out so I'll tell you."

Cassandra put aside her food dish and put her in front of Julie.

"You see, Queen Rapunzel is 26, the same age as former Queen Arianna got pregnant. I know it's not a reason to believe that the current kings are going to have offspring right now, but the queen has been acting strangely the last few days. Now he eats a lot more than he used to, he goes to the bathroom more regularly, even seems to have been suffering nausea. That's what I wanted to ask you, the king and queen finally decided to have their first descendant?"

Cass didn't know how to react. She couldn't lie, she had also been noticing her friend's strange behavior, but she was still convinced that if she and Eugene had decided to have a baby, they would have told her. After all, they were friends.

"Thank you for telling me, Julie, but unfortunately I don't know anything about it, I'm sorry I can't be of help."

"Well, don't worry, thank you for listening to me at least."

That said, Julie came out of the kitchen disappointed. 

Cassandra knew she should talk to Eugene and Rapunzel about that as soon as possible.

* * *

Rapunzel and Eugene's new post made difficult to know where they could be.

Cassandra had spent the whole afternoon trying to locate her friends. She'd searched everywhere, in the captain's office, in the queen's office, in their rooms... But she hadn't succeeded.

Even so, Cass didn't give up, she knew very well that that rumor Julie had told her would not be long before she spread through Corona, so Rapunzel and Eugene had to know immediately.

While Cassandra walked down the castle halls heading to the throne hall (the only place she hadn't even looked for her friends) crashed into someone else and accidentally both fell to the ground.

"Idiot, don't you look where you're going?"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you, I was walking in a hurry."

What a lucky thing I am, Cassandra thought. I had just crashed into Nigel, old King Frederick's royal advisor. It wasn't the first time she had a meeting like this with him.

Nigel had always shown his disagreement that Cassandra was not locked in prison after what happened with Zhan Tiri and the black rocks, he spent the days before her departure insisting the king, queen and Rapunzel that it was too dangerous for the seven kingdoms to let a woman like Cass travel freely. Although all three ignored his words and she could leave with her father on her journey.

The first time Cassandra came back to Corona for a few days, she had met Nigel by chance and he told her that if it were for him, she and Varian would be rotting in Corona Prison for the rest of their lives. Cass decided to ignore Nigel's contempt for criminals like her, because deep down she knew something like that had to happen.

People don't forget easily.

"Of course you were in a hurry, tell me, what plans do you have in mind? Wake up another demon and use its magic to destroy our beloved kingdom again?"

"What are you talking about? I was just looking for my friends to talk to them."

Nigel laughed sarcastically.

"Yes, of course, your friends. Don't make me laugh. You may have fooled them with your redemption nonsense but not me. I know you're trying to do something more dangerous than last time, with a little luck, the king and queen will realize what you're trying to do in time and put you where you belong, in the dungeons with the rest of scum of this kingdom."

Cassandra started to get angry.

"How dare you talk to me like that?"

"What are you gonna do to me? You're gonna lock me in jail? Do it if you want to, but you know I'm right, and if you dare arrest me, the captain will release me and put you there. Besides, you think you're really such a friend of those two? Don't you think if the queen really cared about your friendship, she would have told you about her pregnancy?"

Cassandra was paralyzed. It was true, Rapunzel was pregnant and she hadn't even cared to tell her.

NO, it couldn't be true, Rapunzel was her best friend, if she and Eugene were really waiting a baby would have told her in these weeks she'd been living in Corona, right? On the other hand, however hard it was for her to admit, Nigel was right, she had hurt Rapunzel and the others, maybe she didn't see her the same way she did before.

Cassandra left that area of the castle as fast as she could and headed to her room. She locked the door there and sat on the edge of the bed with her eyes lost.

Raps wasn't worried about their friendship anymore.

Maybe years ago she wouldn't have cared about that. After all, she had done a lot of things to get away from Rapunzel and Eugene, but now... It was different now.

Cassandra fell asleep almost crying.

* * *

"Eugene, do you know where Cassandra is? I'd like to talk to her about a matter."

"I'm sorry Sunshine but I haven't seen her today"

Rapunzel and Eugene were in a castle room eating a little. The last days of the week used to be pretty quiet, so they almost always used to take advantage of the afternoon.

Rapunzel had been wanting to spend an afternoon with Cassandra, her obligations as queen kept her so busy that she hadn't been able to be together like they did before, but for some reason, she hadn't seen her friend all day.

"I guess she'll be in her room resting, yesterday she was up late training the new recruits."

Rapunzel nodded and finished her food quickly, then she got up off the table and headed towards Cassandra's room.

"Cass? I'm Rapunzel, I wanted to ask you if you want to spend the afternoon with me."

There was no answer.

"Cassandra, are you here?"

Rapunzel turned the doorknob, which for her surprise was open, and she walked in.

The room was almost completely empty, the bed was made, but almost all Cass' objects that were spread out in the room had disappeared, the only thing left on the wood table was the second-to-command uniform of the royal guard next to a scroll note. Rapunzel took it and read it.

"Dear Rapunzel, I'm sorry to leave unannounced, I want you to know that I'm very happy here but I realize I'm starting to be a burden for all of you. I loved being able to work on the royal guard instead of just wanting to do it, I loved talking directly to you instead of having to do it by letter, I loved being able to hold Varian's hand instead of just imagining it, but I know very well that all of this things are different for each of you. Years ago, when I stole the moonstone I knew perfectly well that our friendship would no longer be the same, but I still don't understand why it hurts me so much to know that I don't mean anything to you anymore. Don't worry, I'm not blaming you, I understand perfectly. I hope to see you again someday, I may return to Corona to visit you like I did before. Until then, take care of yourself, Raps, now more than ever you have to. I love you, Cass"

Rapunzel was in shock.

Did Cassandra really think she didn't care about her anymore? Really Cassandra had gone perhaps forever? How could that have happened? If she'd just spent more time with her in those weeks... No, it wasn't the time to be sorry.

Rapunzel returned to the living room where Eugene was still eating and showed him the letter. Although the two of them in the past had not been best friends, Eugene was not willing to let Cassandra leave Corona that way.

Luckily for them, Maximus was in the stables, so Eugene and Rapunzel stood on him and ordered him to follow the smell trail that Cass had left when she had sneaked out a few hours ago.

* * *

Cassandra, riding on Fidella, heard the sound of a horse riding fast behind her and suddenly felt a little stupid. Maximus was the fastest horse in the kingdom and also the best tracker in the royal guard. Even though she had been secretly out several hours before them, they had no hard time finding her.

Before she realized what was going through Max, very exhausted, got in front of Fidella, blocking the pass. Eugene and Rapunzel got off their back and they ran to Cassandra who, something annoying, also got off her horse.

"I knew I should have hidden the letter better so you wouldn't have found me."

"Cassandra, please, how could you leave? Why did you say in your letter that we don't care about you? I've always told you I consider you a sister to me, of course I care about our friendship."

"Raps, you don't have to say that if you don't really think about it, I already told you I don't blame you for it."

"But Cass, why do you say that? What makes you think I'm not worried about our friendship?"

"Rapunzel, someone who cares about keeping her friendship would tell the other person what she's pregnant."

At that time Rapunzel and Eugene stopped understanding the situation. Both of them looked at each other very strange.

"Cass, who told you I'm pregnant?"

"Rumors don't take long to get to the people's ears Raps."

This time it was Eugene who spoke.

"Cassandra, we're not waiting any children. The parenting thing is something we've been talking about for a long time, we'd both love to, but right now we barely have time for ourselves so we can't raise a baby."

Cassandra opened her eyes very surprised, now she understood everything. She couldn't help feeling stupid.

"Cass, who told you that?"

"It was your royal advisor."

Eugene sighed, that man had been a problem forever. He told the whole kingdom that Varian had attacked Rapunzel years ago, he disobeyed a direct order from the princess and almost killed an innocent dragon, he wanted Cassandra to be imprisoned for her actions among many other things he had done. Now they both had it very clear that they no longer wanted to have a person like him working with them.

"Cassandra, I'm so sorry you believed that, I can assure you that you've always been my best friend and as soon as we decide we want to have children, you'll be the first to know, after all, you'll be his godmother."

Cassandra couldn't contain the tears, which made Rapunzel come near her and hug her with all her forces, Eugene immediately joined that tender embrace and the 3 of them stayed there for long minutes.

* * *

"Thank you so much for coming here today"

Eugene spoke nervous despite being only in a tiny castle hall in front of their best friends and some relatives (Lance, Catalina, Keira, Varian, Xavier, Stan, Pete, Frederick and Arianna among other few people)

After the hug he and Rapunzel had shared with Cassandra the three of them had returned to Corona and gathered all of them (not without first firing Nigel and taking Cass to the Royal Guard area so she could press charges against him).

Rapunzel had realized that if Cassandra had believed the rumor that she was pregnant, some of her friends might have believed it, so they decided to bring them all together to explain the truth.

"Maybe some of you have heard the rumor that the Queen and I are waiting for our first child, to be honest, we didn't know this rumor until a couple of hours ago, but now that we know that there are people who suspect such a thing, we're gonna be honest with you because you are our best friends and you deserve to know."

Eugene took his wife's hand and stared at her until she nodded.

"Right now we're not expecting offspring, we've talked about that subject sometimes between us, but if we had a child now, he'd end up feeling very lonely because we wouldn't have time for him because of all our obligations, so we'd rather wait to have a baby."

In the living room, several murmurs of people were heard talking to each other, Rapunzel's parents specifically seemed more disappointed than the other guests. Eugene decided to continue talking.

"We're so sorry you came all this way just to get some bad news."

"Wait!"

Rapunzel surprised everyone when she shouted all of a sudden. For the past few minutes, she'd been looking at all the people in the room until she realized that they were all Cassandra's great friends too.

"Maybe there's a way you don't have to leave here disappointed."

That said, Rapunzel told Cass to approach her which she obeyed very strange.

"Cassandra, today I've been thinking a lot about this. Eugene and I aren't going to have our fairy tale ending yet, but it doesn't mean that you have to wait to have yours."

Rapunzel pulled out of the dress pocket a little shiny steel object.

Cassandra was paralyzed, not knowing very well what to do at that time.

"Cass, listen to my advice, if that's what you want, don't think about it anymore, just do it."

Her best friend's words made Cassandra realize she was willing to do it.

He took Rapunzel's little object and turned around. Cass knew there were a lot of people in that room (all friends) looking at what she was about to do, but for her there was only one person in the whole room. She rushed towards that person until she found herself in front of those huge blue eyes. She breathed deeply and then started talking.

"Varian, although our relationship was never formal..."

Cassandra kneeled down and, with a smile on her face, showed him the steel ring.

"Would you make me the happiest woman in the world accepting becoming my husband?"

Varian feel that tears fell down his face.

Tears of happiness.

"Cassie, do you know how long I've been waiting for you to ask me?"

Cassandra got up, even with the ring on her right hand, and with a big smile she asked him.

"So it's a yes?"

"Yeah, it's a yes."

Both embraced and kissed passionately while the people in the room clapped, cried or smiled.

Cassandra's fears had been disappeared in a moment.

* * *

"Dad, you're drowning me"

Quirin laughed as he loosened the knot of Varian's tie a little. He'd never imagined seeing his son dressed so formally, although he had less imagined seeing him on his wedding day. Just thinking about that, Quirin got some tears out.

"Dad, are you okay? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing, son, I'm just so proud of you. You have a fantastic life, your own job, your own house, you're going to marry an amazing woman who loves you, I'm so happy for you."

Varian had to hold his tears after hearing his father's words, yet he threw himself into his arms and gave him a huge hug.

"Thanks, Daddy."

* * *

"Rapunzel are you sure it takes so many touches? It's just a dress."

"It's not just a dress, it's your wedding dress, you're getting married in less than an hour and it's a mess."

"Don't overdo this Raps thing, plus you know the deal, if you want me to marry in a dress instead of in pants, you have to let me wear it the way I want."

"Yeah, I remember the deal, but after all the trouble you've had to organize the wedding, it's better that it all came out perfect, don't you think?"

Rapunzel was right, she and Varian had had a lot of trouble organizing their wedding.

Both wanted guests to be just close friends or family, which left them a pretty small list:  
\- Rapunzel (friend of both)  
\- Eugene (friend of both )  
\- Lance (friend of both)  
\- Keira (friend of both)  
\- Catalina (friend of both)  
\- Quirin (Varian's father)  
\- Simon (Cassandra's father)  
\- Adira (Varian's aunt)  
\- Hector (Varian's uncle)   
\- Edmund (Varian's uncle)   
\- Xavier (friend of both)  
And some other people.   
Most of the guests were family of Varian of the dark kingdom, or lifelong friends, but at the time of sending invitations, some people (including Cassandra's father) said they could not attend that day.

Although the biggest problem came up when the priest told them about an old law of the Corona Church, two people who had been criminals in the past could not marry in that church until 15 years had passed since their crime.

Cassandra and Varian believed that that had been the end of their illusion of being able to marry (they were not willing to wait more than 10 years to marry but not that they could do much more) yet their old friend Lance Strongbow appears to save the day, claiming he could marry the couple himself. In the city library, he got a book about how he could do it and in just a couple of days, he was more than ready for the ceremony.

Partly thanks to the "incident" with the priest they changed the wedding date, which made all his guests can attend.

Everyone except Cassandra's father.

This has disappointed Cassandra a lot since she had always dreamed of following the old Corona tradition by making her father take her to the altar. But because he couldn't do it, she had to find an alternative, which she didn't have a hard time to find.

A few days before the wedding, Varian and Cassandra realized that they had not included two very important people on the guest list, two people who had helped them both very much at different times in their lives. Instead of sending an invitation, they decided to go themselves to give the news.

Once in the castle, Rapunzel had taken them to where those two people were and then left them alone to go and organize the last details for the wedding. When they entered a small castle room, they explained the situation to those people.

"Wait, so you want us to go?"

Arianna looked at the couple very surprised, although she and Frederick had been present when Cassandra proposed to Varian they never imagined that the couple would invite them to the celebration.

"I mean, we..."

"You helped me realize my actions when I was just a kid and I was in jail."

"And you gave me a second chance even after you tried to destroy your precious kingdom. That is why we believe that after all you have done for us, the least we can do is invite you to our wedding, although we feel so sorry for make it so late."

This time it was Frederick who spoke.

"Time is the least, for us it means a lot that you have taken us into account for such a very important moment in your lives. It would be an honor for us to attend your wedding."

Finally the day had come.

The celebration would be in the castle gardens and guests were just friends and family, although the couple was very nervous.

The music started playing and Cassandra, waiting inside a small room inside the castle, felt the body shaking her nerves, fortunately Eugene realized that, so he tried to calm his friend down.

"Hey Cassandra, don't worry, I can assure you that when you walk through that door and get out in the garden, your fiancé will be waiting for you."

Cassandra laughed at Eugene's words, which relaxed her a little.

"I know it Fitherbert, I know Varian is waiting for me."

Rapunzel warned Cassandra and Eugene that the time had come, so he stretched his arm and both started walking slowly towards the gardens.

"Eugene, thank you for replacing my father today, I know you were already busy today considering that you are also Varian's best man at the wedding but..."

"Don't worry about it, Cassandra, I was a little surprised that you asked me, but I'm more than happy to do this for my favorite-heartedless woman."

Cassandra couldn't help but let go of a little laugh, which helped her stay relaxed until they got to the gardens.

Both were walking slowly for the improvised corridor they had made by putting white wood banks so that the guests would sit. Everyone was looking at her, but Cassandra could only look ahead, towards her fiancé, who waited for her with a big smile on her face.

On the altar, Cassandra stood in her place next to Rapunzel (who was her maid of honor) and Eugene went to stand next to Varian (as his best man). When everyone was in their places, Lance started talking.

"Dear friends and family, we have gathered here today to join Varian Crittern and Cassandra Wilson in holy marriage. If there's anyone here who knows any reason why this couple should not marry, shut them up, because this wedding is going to continue."

Lance's comment made everyone present at the wedding laugh. When the sound stopped, Lance went on.

"Anyway, I think it's best to go straight to your vows, so ladies first."

Understanding that it was her time, Cassandra turned and handed her bouquet of flowers to Rapunzel who had given her a little steel ring, the same one she had used to declare to Varian a few months ago. Then she turned to her fiancé and started.

"Varian, I remember that once a long time ago you told me that we all need that someone who treats us like no one else right when we need it the most, we all need a soul to rely on, a shoulder to cry on and a friend through the highs and the lows. And after all these years I realized you were saying it for us. Because you're that someone that treats me like no one else right when I need it the most and I'll be your soul yo rely on, your shoulder to cry on and your friend through the highs and the lows. That's why today, with this ring I marry you"

Cassandra cleaned a tear that fell down Varian's cheek after finishing her speech. Though they weren't the only ones who were crying. Lance had also started crying with emotion.

"That was unexpectedly beautiful, I'm gonna need a moment to recover, while Varian say your vows."

Varian turned around and Eugene gave him a purple little bright ring that he had made with the cassandrium ore for that celebration.

"Cassie, as a scientist I am, my job is understand why things happen, but yet even after all these years I still don't understand how someone as incredible as you want to be with someone like me. But although I don't know the answer to that, there's something I do know for sure, is that I love you. I love you with all my soul and I swear I'll spend my life proving it to you. That's why today, at last, with this ring I marry you."

The guests applauded for the second time, some of them (including Keira and Catalina) were crying just like Lance, who tried to dry tears to continue talking.

"That was beautiful too. I guess the most important moment has come."

Lance stood straight with his hands on the table and started.

"You, Cassandra Wilson, take Varian Crittern as your lawfully wedded husband?" 

"Yes I do."

"And you, Varian Crittern, take Cassandra Wilson as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"Yes I do."

"So for the power that has been granted to me by the book "Even the fools like you can officiate a simple wedding," I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Varian and Cassandra kissed while they heard all the guests clapping and screaming out of emotion, some still crying. Cassandra took back her bouquet of flowers and holding Varian's arm, both slowly walked down the hall, heading towards their new future.

Together.

**Author's Note:**

> Funny fact about me: Stephen King is my favorite author and we're both terrible at writing finals.  
> I hope you liked this one shot. This is definitely one of my favorite creations so far along with Scars. I'm writing another one shoot like Scars that may be published soon and I have two ideas to create two pretty long fanfics that I hope can come true soon.  
> I would love to read your views about my writing (I always respond to all comments). Thank you so much for reading if you've come this far.  
> I'll send you a super hug.


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